So I have extra motivation, I guess.

Anyway, I am working on battle animations these days. (Follow along on Twitter while that site still exists, if you like!).

I had done a thorough review of every skill and battle event in the game, and then mapped that to every animations, and from there to every battle animation sheet. I cross-referenced that with the animation sheets I had commissioned from visitorsfromdream. From there, I identified the gaps - the most significant gap being the space in my wallet (I have no budget left, really. That's what happens when you let a game project drag on for 5 years). So to fill in the gap, at the beginning of April I started to learn how to do simple pixel art, with a focus on small animations!



I started with simple laser effects, and then moved on to a study on sparkles and gems (a staple of every RPG ever). The sparkles will be used in a large variety of spells, especially healing.



I circled back to some more lasers, and small burst animations. The lasers were based on an animation that I had downloaded back in like 2003 and have no idea where it is sourced from. The bursts are based off of Chrono Trigger's animations.



You can see me working on it here:


Because some people think I have some sort of innate spriting skillz, I am showing you my current process - using references from SNES games!!

I tried to make a fissure like skill, based on our favourite end boss Lavos.



Today I took a crack at making the most complex sprite I've attempted to date - a large skull.



Naturally, I used my socks as a reference. (I also later googled skull art references, because I do not have a full grasp on how the human skull is actually shaped).



I have a long list, but so far so good in my first 3 week foray into the world of spriting! Still to do are more physical hit sparks and slashes, stealing items, more fire (ugh this is going to be tough), ice, lightning, wind, gasses, dark spirits, holy magic, explosions, and tarot cards!


(Also, I am focusing on spriting right now because it is fun, but MORESO to avoid tedious work I know I have do to. The battle events need a cleanup and revamp, and the prospect of working on that is daunting. Then there are the bug fixes and planned enhancements. And playtesting. Which will lead to more bug fixes.)

Follow along on Twitters if you want more real-time progress reports on battle animations. (where are we supposed to post going forward these days? Instagram? Tumblr? Y'know, for when twitter dies)